Method and apparatus for providing and facilitating interaction with distributed manager information of a network

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for providing and facilitating interaction with distributed manager information of a network identifies a set of distributed managers within the network and also identifies, for each distributed manager in the set, a client system assigned to the distributed manager. A distributed manager of the set of distributed managers and the client system assigned to the distributed manager are also displayed, via a graphical user interface.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 09/145,050, filed Sep. 1,1998 now U.S. Pat. No. 6,141,680.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention pertains to distributed network management. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to providing and facilitatinginteraction with distributed manager information of a network, andmanaging distributed manager entities of a network in an orderly andredundant fashion.

2. Background

Computer systems are increasingly becoming commonplace in homes andbusinesses throughout the world. As the number of computer systemsincreases, more and more computer systems are becoming interconnectedvia networks. These networks include local area networks (LANs), such asare commonly found in businesses and educational facilities throughoutthe world, as well as some homes. LANs also frequently have an interfaceto other networks, such as a wide area network (WAN) or the Internet,and this interface needs to be monitored and controlled by networkmanagement on the LAN.

One concern encountered with networks is referred to as networkmanagement. Network management refers to monitoring and controlling ofthe network devices and includes the ability for an individual,typically referred to as an administrative user, to be able to access,monitor, and control the devices that are part of the network or access,monitor and control the interfaces of the network coupled to othercomputer systems. Such access, monitoring, and control often includesthe ability to check the operating status of devices, receive errorinformation for devices, change configuration values, etc. As the sizeof networks (that is, the number of devices that are part of thenetwork) increases, so too does the need for network management.

One type of network management that can be used is referred to asdistributed management. In a network employing distributed management,multiple distributed manager entities are established that performaccess, monitoring, and control functions for selected devices that arepart of or interfaced to the network. These distributed manager devicescan then be accessed by an administrative user. However, one problemtypically encountered with distributed management networks is the lackof ability for the distributed management system to provide to theadministrative user user-friendly feedback and/or management and/orredundancy capabilities for the distributed managers. This problem isonly exacerbated as the size of networks increases.

Thus, a need exists for an improved way to provide and facilitateinteraction with distributed manager information of a network.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A method and apparatus for providing and facilitating interaction withdistributed manager information of a network is described herein.According to one aspect of the invention, a method for displayingdistributed manager information for a network identifies a set ofdistributed managers within the network and also identifies, for eachdistributed manager in the set, a client system assigned to thedistributed manager. A distributed manager of the set of distributedmanagers and the client system assigned to the distributed manager arealso displayed, via a graphical user interface.

According to one aspect of the present invention, distributed managersof the set of distributed managers that are overburdened are identified,and the overburdened distributed managers are displayed in a manner thatdistinguishes the overburdened distributed managers from thenon-overburdened distributed managers.

According to one aspect of the present invention, both distributedmanagers of the set of distributed managers and client systems aredisplayed as icons, and assignment of which manager manages a clientsystem can be changed by dragging and dropping an icon corresponding tothe client system on an icon corresponding to a distributed manager.

According to one aspect of the present invention, an indication of amanager that is a backup for another manager is displayed via thegraphical user interface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention is illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a hardware system or machine incorporating oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a network environment in which one embodiment of thepresent invention can be used;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the process followed displayingdistributed manager information according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a graphical user interface identifying the managementtopology of a network topology according to one embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates a graphical user interface with a modified managementtopology from that illustrated in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the steps followed in providing anindication of overburdened distributed managers according to oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates a graphical user interface providing an indication ofoverburdened distributed managers according to one embodiment of thepresent invention; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a graphical user interface providing managerredundancy information according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following detailed description numerous specific details are setforth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the presentinvention. However, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat the present invention may be practiced without these specificdetails. In other instances well known methods, procedures, components,and circuits have not been described in detail so as not to obscure thepresent invention.

In alternative embodiments, the present invention may be applicable toimplementations of the invention in integrated circuits or chip sets,wireless implementations, switching systems products and transmissionsystems products. For purposes of this application, the terms switchingsystems products shall be taken to mean private branch exchanges (PBXs),central office switching systems that interconnect subscribers,toll/tandem switching systems for interconnecting trunks betweenswitching centers, and broadband core switches found at the center of aservice provider's network that may be fed by broadband edge switches oraccess multiplexors, and associated signaling, and support systems andservices. The term transmission systems products shall be taken to meanproducts used by service providers to provide interconnection betweentheir subscribers and their networks such as loop systems, and whichprovide multiplexing, aggregation and transport between a serviceprovider's switching systems across the wide area, and associatedsignaling and support systems and services.

Some portions of the detailed descriptions which follow are presented interms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on databits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desiredresult. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like. It should be borne in mind, however, thatall of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriatephysical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to thesequantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from thefollowing discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the presentinvention, discussions utilizing terms such as “processing”0 or“computing” or “calculating” or “determining” or “displaying” or thelike, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similarelectronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms datarepresented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computersystem's registers and memories into other data similarly represented asphysical quantities within the computer system memories or registers orother such information storage, transmission or display devices.

The present invention provides a user interface for facilitating userinteraction (typically an administrative user) with a distributedmanager hierarchy within a network. Distributed manager and clientsystem icons are displayed to a user within the context of the networktopology, thereby providing the user with graphical informationidentifying which distributed managers are managing which clientsystems. According to one aspect of the present invention, theassignment of client systems to distributed managers can be modified bya user via the interface of the present invention by “dragging anddropping” client system icons on the appropriate manager icons.Additionally, according to one aspect of the invention, informationregarding potential problems with the current distributed managementsetup (e.g., “overburdened” managers) is also provided in the display.

FIG. 1 illustrates a hardware system or machine incorporating oneembodiment of the present invention. As illustrated, hardware system 100includes processor 102, system bus 106, and input/output (I/O) bus 112.Bridge 114 couples system bus 106 to I/O bus 112. Coupled to system bus106 are system memory 104, display controller 108, and display device110. Coupled to bus 112 are I/O devices 116, non-volatile mass storagedevice(s) 118, and network/communication interface 120. I/O devices 116are intended to represent a broad range of conventional input, output,and input/output devices including cursor control devices (e.g., amouse, trackball, trackpad, touchscreen, etc.), alphanumeric inputdevices (e.g., keyboards), printers, scanners, etc.

These elements 102-120 perform their conventional functions known in theart. In particular, network/communication interface 120 is used toprovide communication between system 100 and any of a wide range ofconventional networks, such as an Ethernet, token ring, the Internet,etc. It is to be appreciated that the circuitry of interface 120 isdependent on the type of network the system 100 is being coupled to.

Mass storage device(s) 118 is used to provide permanent storage for thedata and programming instructions to implement one embodiment of thepresent invention, whereas system memory 104 is used to providetemporary storage for the data and programming instructions whenexecuted by processor 102. Mass storage device 118 may be provided withthe programming instructions by loading the programming instructionsfrom a distribution storage medium (not shown), or by downloading theprogramming distributions from a server (not shown) coupled to hardwaresystem 100 via network/communication interface 120. Collectively, theseelements are intended to represent a broad category of hardware systems,including but not limited to general purpose computer systems based onprocessors available from Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., fromAdvance Micro Devices (AMD) of Sunnyvale, Calif., from NationalSemiconductor of Sunnyvale, Calif., or from Digital EquipmentCorporation (DEC) of Maynard, Mass.

It is to be appreciated that various components of hardware system 100may be rearranged. Furthermore, certain implementations of the presentinvention may not require nor include all of the above components. Forexample, storage device(s) 118 may not be included in system 100.Additionally, the peripheral devices shown coupled to I/O bus 112 may becoupled to system bus 106; in addition, in some implementations only asingle bus may exist with the components of hardware system 100 beingcoupled to the single bus. Furthermore, additional components may beincluded in system 100, such as additional processors, storage devices,memories, I/O devices, etc.

In one embodiment, the present invention is implemented as a series ofsoftware routines run by the hardware system of FIG. 1. These softwareroutines comprise a plurality or series of instructions to be executedby a processor in a hardware system, such as processor 102. Initially,the series of instructions are stored on a storage device, such as massstorage device 118. The instructions are copied from storage device 118into memory 104 and then accessed and executed by processor 102. In oneimplementation, these software routines are written in the C++programming language. It is to be appreciated, however, that theseroutines may be implemented in any of a wide variety of programminglanguages or may be part of a Java applet. In alternate embodiments, thepresent invention is implemented in discrete hardware or firmware. Forexample, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) could beprogrammed with the functions of the present invention.

In the illustrated embodiment, manager control process(es) 130 in systemmemory 104 controls the information being displayed as part of the userinterface in accordance with the present invention. Additionally,manager control 130 includes the processes for changing assignments ofclient systems to distributed managers and communicating with variousother devices within the network environment. The operation of managercontrol 130 in accordance with various embodiments of the presentinvention are discussed in more detail below with reference to thefollowing figures. Also in memory 104 are management informationdatabase 132 and display database 134, which store various data used bymanager control process(es) 130. Management information database 132stores the management information identified in accordance with thepresent invention, including which client systems are assigned to whichmanagers and which managers report to which other managers (if any).Display database 134 stores various icons used by manager controlprocess 130 in providing the interface of the present invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a network environment in which one embodiment of thepresent invention can be used. Multiple workstation systems 220 andserver systems 222 are included within environment 200, each coupled toone of multiple network segments 202, 204, and 206. Each of thesesegments is coupled to one another by hub 208 and/or router 210, therebyallowing any of the systems 220 and 222 to communicate with any other ofthe systems 220 and 222.

Network environments typically include one or more “managers” whosefunction it is to monitor and provide select management control for thenetwork. Various network status information is provided to themanager(s) by workstation and server systems within the network as wellas possibly other managers. Such status information includes, forexample, indications of application errors, etc. In the illustratedembodiment, environment 200 is managed according to a distributedmanagement methodology. The distributed management methodology allowsthe management responsibility for the network to be spread out amongmultiple managers distributed throughout the network rather than at asingle central manager. Any of a variety of conventional methodologiesmay be used to implement distributed management, such as the methodologydescribed in the Internet-Draft “Distributed Management Framework” byAndy Bierman, et al., December 1997.

Any number of workstation systems 220 and server systems 222 could beset up as a distributed manager. Typically, a manager system performsadditional functions and processing in its capacity as a workstation orserver system as well as those functions which provide the distributedmanager capabilities. However, in alternate embodiments dedicatedmanager systems can be used.

In a distributed management system, management information is maintainedby communicating messages between systems. A client system communicatesstatus information to the distributed manager that has responsibilityfor managing that client system. As used herein, “client system” refersto a “client” relative to the distributed management system. A clientsystem can be assigned to be managed by a distributed manager, and maybe a workstation, a server, etc. For example, when an error occurs atthe client system a message identifying the occurrence of that error iscommunicated to the distributed manager. The client system can bepre-programmed with information identifying which manager it is tocommunicate status information to, or alternatively the manager systemcould send a message to the client system identifying itself as themanager for that client system. Additionally, manager systems may bedistributed in a hierarchical manner, with some managers communicatingor reporting status information to other managers.

According to one embodiment, the present invention is implemented at oneor more of the manager systems. In other words, a distributed managerwithin the network provides an interface for displaying and controllingthe distributed management of the network.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the process followed displayingdistributed manager information according to one embodiment of thepresent invention. Initially, manager control process 130 of FIG. 1identifies the network topology, step 305. The topology of the networkis defined as the manner in which devices in the network areinterconnected, the devices including client systems, server systems,routers, hubs, etc. Additionally, in the illustrated embodiment thisidentification includes identifying “management” hierarchy information,which refers to the hierarchy of which client systems report to whichdistributed managers, as well as which distributed managers report towhich other distributed managers. This identification can be done in anyof a wide variety of conventional manners, such as by use of Optivity,available from Bay Networks, Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., or inaccordance with the Internet-Draft “Physical Topology Discovery Protocoland MIB” by Andy Bierman and Keith McCloghrie, September, 1997.

The manager control process then identifies the locations of thedistributed managers within the network topology, step 310. This managerlocation identification is carried out by accessing the topologyinformation obtained in step 305 and extracting the management hierarchyinformation. Thus, the manager control process is able to identify whichsystems within the network are distributed managers, as well as whichclient systems are managed by which distributed managers.

Once the network topology and the locations of the distributed managersare identified, manager control process 130 generates and displays a“drag and drop” graphical user interface (GUI) that identifies thedistributed managers as well as the client systems assigned to thedistributed managers, step 315. Manager control process 130 displaysdifferent icons to represent the distributed managers and clientsystems, as discussed in more detail below. According to one embodimentof the present invention, the GUI provided by manager control process130 identifies the distributed managers and their locations using a“tree” structure, as discussed in more detail below.

FIG. 4 illustrates a GUI identifying the management topology of anetwork topology according to one embodiment of the present invention.As illustrated in FIG. 4, four distributed managers are part of thenetwork as illustrated by distributed manager icons 401, 402, 403, and404, as well as eleven client systems as illustrated by client systemicons 410-420. The management topology identifies which of these clientsystems corresponding to client icons 410-420 report to which of thedistributed managers corresponding to manager icons 401-404, as well aswhich managers corresponding to manager icons 401-404, if any, report towhich other managers corresponding to icons 401-404. Thus, by way ofexample client systems corresponding to icons 410-412 report to themanager corresponding to icon 402, the client system corresponding toclient icon 413 reports to the manager corresponding to manager icon401, client systems corresponding to client icons 414-416 report to themanager corresponding to manager icon 403, and the client systemscorresponding to client icons 417-420 report to the managercorresponding to manager icon 404. Furthermore, the managerscorresponding to manager icons 402-404 report to the managercorresponding to manager icon 401. Thus, GUI 400 provides an informativedisplay to the user of which client systems are being managed by whichdistributed managers.

In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 4, a “primary” distributed managercorresponding to manager icon 401 is included. The “primary” manager isthe manager at the “top” of the hierarchy; that is, the manager to whichstatus information from all client systems eventually migrates. Inalternate embodiments, no such “primary” distributed manager exists.

The assignments of which client systems are being managed by whichdistributed manager can be changed through GUI 400. Manager controlprocess 130 of FIG. 1 allows assignments to be changed by simply“dragging and dropping” a client icon onto the appropriate distributedmanager icon. For example, a user can select client icon 415 and drag itonto manager icon 402, thereby changing the assignment of the clientsystem corresponding to client icon 415 to the manager corresponding tomanager icon 402 rather than the manager corresponding to manager icon401.

In order to effectuate an assignment change, manager control process 130sends messages to the client and manager systems involved to notify themof the change. According to the previous example, manager controlprocess 130 sends a message to the client system corresponding to clienticon 415 that it is to communicate status information to the managercorresponding to manager icon 402 rather than the manager correspondingto manager icon 403. Additionally, manager control process 130 sendsmessages to the managers corresponding to manager icons 402 and 403 thatthe management responsibility for the client system corresponding toclient icon 415 has been changed from the manager corresponding tomanager icon 403 to the manager corresponding to manager icon 402.Alternatively, the manager corresponding to manager icon 403 need onlybe informed that it is no longer responsible for managing the clientsystem corresponding to client icon 415 without being informed of whichmanager is taking over responsibility for managing that client system.

Alternate embodiments allow assignment of client systems to managers indifferent manners than the drag and drop methodology. According to onesuch alternate embodiment, selection of a client icon (e.g., clicking ona right mouse button while the cursor is over the client icon) causesmanager control process 130 of FIG. 1 to bring up a menu listing all ofthe distributed managers to which the client system corresponding to theselected icon can be assigned. Selection of one of the distributedmanagers then causes the assignment to be changed.

Alternate embodiments other than the tree structure illustrated in FIG.4 can also be used to identify the topology. In one such alternateembodiment systems are color coded. For example, client system icons andthe corresponding manager icon representing the manager to which theclients are assigned are all the same color, or have an outline in thesame color. A manager icon corresponding to a manger of multiple othermanagers (e.g., manager icon 401) could include multiple colors (e.g.,multiple colors of outlining).

FIG. 5 illustrates a GUI with a modified management topology from thatillustrated in FIG. 4. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the assignment ofclient systems to distributed managers has been modified, so that theclient system corresponding to client icon 412 reports to the managercorresponding to manager icon 404 rather than the manager correspondingto manager icon 402, the client system corresponding to client icon 413reports to the manager corresponding to manager icon 402 rather than themanager corresponding to manager icon 401, the client systemcorresponding to client icon 417 reports to the manager corresponding tomanager icon 402 rather than the manager corresponding to manager icon404, and the client system corresponding to client icon 420 reports tothe manager corresponding to manager icon 403 rather than the managercorresponding to manager icon 404. Thus, management responsibility forclient systems an be easily modified via a user-friendly GUI form at inaccordance with the present invention.

However, one problem that can occur in distributed management systems isthat distributed managers within the network can become overburdened. Asdiscussed above, different managers are assigned to manage differentclient systems and there is typically no required control over thenumber of client systems being managed by a particular manager. Adistributed manager that is managing a large enough number of clientsystems can be termed “overburdened”. The number of client systems thatare managed in order to be “overburdened” can be a static value (e.g.,twenty), or a dynamic value (e.g., exceeds the average number of clientsystems by ten, or exceeds the average number of client systems by fortypercent). According to one aspect of the present invention, overburdeneddistributed managers are identified as part of the GUI provided bymanager control process 130 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the steps followed in providing anindication of overburdened distributed managers according to oneembodiment of the present invention. As illustrated, manager controlprocess 130 of FIG. 1 first identifies the number of client systemsbeing managed by each distributed manager in the network, step 605.Manager control process 130 then calculates an average number of clientsper manager, step 610.

The manager control process then determines which managers, if any,exceed the calculated average by a threshold amount, step 615. Thethreshold amount can be a static value (e.g., fifteen) or alternativelycan be a dynamic value (e.g., thirty five percent of the calculatedaverage). According to one embodiment of the present invention, managercontrol process 130 allows a user (e.g., an administrative user) toalter the threshold amount.

The manager control process then provides an indicator on the GUI ofthose managers, if any, which exceed the calculated average by thethreshold amount, step 620. This indicator of overburdened managers canbe provided in any of a wide variety of conventional manners, such asdisplaying a list identifying each overburdened manager, using differenticons or different colors for the manager icons corresponding tooverburdened managers (e.g., outlined in red), “flashing” or “blinking”icons corresponding to overburdened managers, etc.

In an alternate embodiment, the manager control process determinesoverburdened managers using a fixed value rather than a calculatedaverage. Thus, in this alternate embodiment step 610 is not necessaryand the managers, if any, which are determined to exceed this fixedvalue in step 615 are identified as the overburdened managers. The fixedvalue in this alternate embodiment can be a predetermined value or auser-identified (e.g., an administrative user) value. By way of example,the manager control process may be programmed to identify any managerthat is managing more than fifty client systems as being overburdened.

Additionally, according to one embodiment of the present invention“underburdened” distributed managers are also identified by managercontrol process 130. An underburdened manager is a manger that managesless than a particular number of client systems (analogous tooverburdened managers, this can be a static or dynamic based on acalculated average, or a fixed value). Indications of underburdenedmanagers can be provided in any of a wide variety of conventionalmanners, such as different icons, different colors, a listing, etc.

FIG. 7 illustrates a GUI providing an indication of overburdeneddistributed managers according to one embodiment of the presentinvention. As illustrated, multiple distributed managers correspondingto manager icons 701-706 are managing multiple client systemscorresponding to client icons 711-720. A total of forty client systemsare being managed, two by the manager corresponding to manager icon 702,six by the manager corresponding to manager icon 703, twenty by themanager corresponding to manager icon 704, five by the managercorresponding to manger icon 705, and seven by the manager correspondingto manager icon 706.

In the illustrated embodiment, manager icon 704 is highlighted on theGUI to indicate that the corresponding distributed manager isoverburdened. Additionally, manager icon 703 is highlighted in adifferent manner to indicate that the corresponding distributed manageris underburdened.

Additionally, according to one embodiment of the present invention thedistributed managers can provide backup or redundancy for one another.When redundancy is used, a distributed manager can be assigned as backupto one or more other distributed managers, and each distributed managercan have one or more backup managers. A backup manager maintains thesame management information regarding the client systems being managedby the backed up manager as the backed up manager keeps. Thus, if aproblem occurs with the backed up manager (e.g., hardware or softwarefailure), then the backup manager can step in and take the place of theproblem manager. Redundancy information identifying which manager is abackup for which other manager(s) can be identified in any of a widevariety of conventional manners, such as by polling the managers forsuch information, by obtaining the information from the network topologyidentification step 305 of FIG. 3 discussed above, etc.

In order to support redundancy, a mechanism for allowing the backupmanager to have access to the backed up manager is used. According toone embodiment, a backed up manager communicates messages to the backupmanager providing the status information that the backed up managerreceives from client systems. This can be via a synchronization program,such as SCSP (Server Cache Synchronization Protocol), ormanager-to-manager communications can be performed when new statusinformation is received from a client system, or alternatively can beperformed at different intervals.

Additionally, a mechanism for allowing the backup manager to know whenthe backed up manager has failed is also used. According to oneembodiment, a backup manager continually polls the backed up manager atvarious intervals. If a response to the polling is received, then thebacked up manager is presumed to be working. However, if no response tothe polling is received, then the backed up manager is presumed to havefailed. Alternatively, the backed up manager could send “still active”messages to the backup manager at various intervals, and the backupmanager presumes the backed up manager has failed if such a message isnot received at the proper time (based on the interval being used).

FIG. 8 illustrates a GUI providing manager redundancy informationaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated,multiple distributed managers corresponding to manager icons 801-806 areincluded in the network topology, along with multiple client systemscorresponding to client icons 810-819. Directional arrows areillustrated in the embodiment of FIG. 8 to provide an indication ofwhich manager serves as a backup or redundant manager for anothermanager. For example, the manager corresponding to manager icon 802 is abackup for the manager corresponding to manager icon 803, and viceversa. By way of another example, the manager corresponding to managericon 804 is a backup for the manager corresponding to manager icon 805,while the manager corresponding to manager icon 806 is a backup for themanager corresponding to manager icon 804. It should be noted that thesedirectional arrows can be the same color (and same line width, etc.) asthose used to identify the management reporting relationships, oralternatively can be of different colors to help distinguish them for aviewer.

Alternatively, rather than using directional arrows, an additional labelmay be used to identify backup managers. For example, a label 807identifying icon 804 can be located in the upper left corner of managericon 805 to indicate that the manager corresponding to manager icon 804(and label 807) is a backup for the manager corresponding to managericon 805. By way of another example, a label 808 identifying icon 804can be located in the upper right corner of manager icon 806 to indicatethat the manager corresponding to manager icon 806 is a backup for themanager corresponding to manger icon 804.

Additionally, according to one embodiment manager control process 130allows a user (e.g., an administrative user) to alter redundancyassignments. New redundancies can be created by, for example, draggingand dropping one manager icon onto another. Alternatively, managercontrol process 130 could provide a menu listing of potential backupmanagers in response to selection of a manager icon. Redundancies can beremoved by, for example, selecting and deleting (e.g., by use of adelete key on a keyboard or a delete icon or menu option as part of theGUI) a directional arrow. By way of example, dragging and droppingmanager icon 803 on manager icon 804 could cause in the managercorresponding to manager icon 804 becoming the backup for the managercorresponding to manager icon 803. Additionally, selection and deletionof the directional arrow from manager icon 805 to manager icon 804 couldcause the manager corresponding to manager icon 804 to no longer be abackup for the manger corresponding to manager icon 805.

In order to effectuate a redundancy change, manager control process 130sends messages to the manager systems involved to notify them of thechange. According to the previous two examples, manager control process130 sends a message to the manager corresponding to manager icon 804that it is now a backup manager for the manager corresponding to managericon 803, and also sends a message to the manager corresponding tomanager icon 803 that it is now being backed up by the managercorresponding to manager icon 804. Alternatively, the managercorresponding to either manager icon 803 or 804 could be informed by theother manager rather than by manager control process 130.

According to an alternate embodiment, additional textual informationthat further describes the manager or client systems is included as partof each icon (e.g., either “inside” the shape of the icon or as anadditional label next to the icon). Examples of such labels includenetwork addresses, user names, resource names, etc.

In the discussions above, one aspect of the present invention isdescribed as being able to provide an indication of overburdeneddistributed managers. It is to be appreciated, however, that additionalproblems within the network can also be indicated in accordance with thepresent invention. By way of example, “failed” managers (e.g., thosethat do not respond to polling or other messages), client systems thatare not assigned to a manager (e.g., because the manager they wereassigned to failed and there is no backup manager, a manager was removedfrom the system, no manager was been assigned yet, etc.), etc. can allbe indicated. These problems can be indicated in any of a wide varietyof manners analogous to those discussed above, such as different colors,different outlining of icons, different icons, etc.

Thus, the present invention provides and facilitates interaction withdistributed manager information of a network. A user-friendly graphicaluser interface that advantageously illustrates distributed managers aswell as which client systems, and possibly managers, are assigned towhich managers. Additionally, one aspect of the present invention allowssuch assignments to be easily modified in a user-friendly manner.Furthermore, another aspect of the present invention advantageouslyidentifies overburdened managers to a user, while yet another aspectidentifies redundancy information to a user and allows such redundanciesto be easily modified by the user.

Thus, a method and apparatus for providing and facilitating interactionwith distributed manager information of a network has been described.Whereas many alterations and modifications of the present invention willbe comprehended by a person skilled in the art after having read theforegoing description, it is to be understood that the particularembodiments shown and described by way of illustration are in no wayintended to be considered limiting. References to details of particularembodiments are not intended to limit the scope of the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for assigning client systems in anetwork, the method comprising: displaying as icons at least a subset ofdistributed managers in the network and at least a subset of clientsystems in the network; and assigning at least one of the client systemsto at least one of the distributed managers by associating an iconcorresponding to the at least one client system with an iconcorresponding to the at least one distributed manager.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the associating of the icon corresponding to the atleast one client system to the icon corresponding to the at least onedistributed manager comprises dragging and dropping the iconcorresponding to the at least one client system on the iconcorresponding to the at least one distributed manager.
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the icons are displayed utilizing a graphical userinterface.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the assigning of the atleast one client system to the at least one distributed managercomprises sending messages to the at least one distributed manager andthe at least one client system to notify the at least one distributedmanager and the at least one client system of the assignment.
 5. Themethod of claim 4, wherein the messages sent to affect the assignmentinclude a message to the at least one client system instructing the atleast one client system to communicate status information to the atleast one distributed manager.
 6. The method of claim 4, wherein themessages sent to affect the assignment include a message to the at leastone distributed manager instructing the at least one distributed managerthat the at least one distributed manager has management responsibilityfor the at least one client system.
 7. The method of claim 1, whereinassigning at least one of the client systems to at least one of thedistributed managers comprises: selecting the icon corresponding to theat least one client system to cause a menu listing of all thedistributed managers to which the client system can be assigned to bedisplayed, and selecting one of the distributed managers from the menulisting to cause the assignment of the at least one client system to theselected distributed manager.
 8. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising displaying the interrelationships of the distributed managersand the client systems utilizing a tree structure.
 9. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the subset of distributed managers includes eachdistributed manager within the network.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising: identifying distributed managers of the subset ofdistributed managers that are overburdened; and displaying, via agraphical user interface, the subset of distributed managers in a mannerthat distinguishes the overburdened distributed managers from thenon-overburdened distributed managers.
 11. The method of claim 10,wherein the identifying of distributed managers that are overburdenedcomprises: identifying a number of client systems that are managed byeach distributed manager of the subset of distributed managers,calculating an average number of client systems that are managed for thesubset of distributed managers, and determining a distributed manager ofthe subset of distributed managers is overburdened if the distributedmanager manages a number of client systems that exceeds the averagenumber of client systems by a threshold amount.
 12. The method of claim1, further comprising: obtaining redundancy information by identifying afirst distributed manager of the subset of distributed managers that isa backup for a second distributed manager of the subset of distributedmanagers, and displaying, via a graphical user interface, an indicationthat the first distributed manager is a backup for the seconddistributed manager.
 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the indicationcomprises a directional arrow.
 14. A machine-readable medium havingstored thereon a plurality of instructions, designed to be executed by aprocessor, for implementing a function to: display as icons at least asubset of distributed managers in a network and at least a subset ofclient systems in the network; and assign at least one of the clientsystems to at least one of the distributed managers by associating anicon corresponding to the at least one client system with an iconcorresponding to the at least one distributed manager.
 15. Themachine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the plurality ofinstructions for implementing the function of associating the iconcorresponding to the at least one client system to the iconcorresponding to the at least one distributed manager comprises aplurality of instructions to implement a function of dragging anddropping the icon corresponding to the at least one client system on theicon corresponding to the at least one distributed manager.
 16. Themachine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the icons are displayedutilizing a graphical user interface.
 17. The machine-readable medium ofclaim 14, wherein the plurality of instructions for implementing thefunction of assigning the at least one client system to the at least onedistributed manager comprises a plurality of instructions forimplementing a function to send messages to the at least one distributedmanager and the at least one client system to notify the at least onedistributed manager and the at least one client system of theassignment.
 18. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein themessages sent to affect the assignment include a message to the at leastone client system instructing the at least one client system tocommunicate status information to the at least one distributed manager.19. The machine-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the messages sentto affect the assignment include a message to the at least onedistributed manager instructing the at least one distributed managerthat the at least one distributed manager has management responsibilityfor the at least one client system.
 20. The machine-readable medium ofclaim 14, wherein the plurality of instructions for implementing thefunction of assigning at least one of the client systems to at least oneof the distributed managers comprises a plurality of instructions forimplementing a function to: select the icon corresponding to the atleast one client system to cause a menu listing of all the distributedmanagers to which the client system can be assigned to be displayed, andselect one of the distributed managers from the menu listing to causethe assignment of the at least one client system to the selecteddistributed manager.
 21. The machine-readable medium of claim 14,further comprising a plurality of instructions for implementing afunction to display the interrelationships of the distributed managersand the client systems utilizing a tree structure.
 22. Themachine-readable medium of claim 14, wherein the subset of distributedmanagers includes each distributed manager within the network.
 23. Themachine-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising a plurality ofinstructions for implementing a function to: identify distributedmanagers of the subset of distributed managers that are overburdened;and display, via a graphical user interface, the subset of distributedmanagers in a manner that distinguishes the overburdened distributedmanagers from the non-overburdened distributed managers.
 24. Themachine-readable medium of claim 23, wherein the plurality ofinstructions for implementing the function to identify distributedmanagers that are overburdened comprises a plurality of instructions forimplementing a function to: identify a number of client systems that aremanaged by each distributed manager of the subset of distributedmanagers, calculate an average number of client systems that are managedfor the subset of distributed managers, and determine a distributedmanager of the subset of distributed managers is overburdened if thedistributed manager manages a number of client systems that exceeds theaverage number of client systems by a threshold amount.
 25. Themachine-readable medium of claim 14, further comprising a plurality ofinstructions for implementing a function to: obtain redundancyinformation by identifying a first distributed manager of the subset ofdistributed managers that is a backup for a second distributed managerof the subset of distributed managers, and display, via a graphical userinterface, an indication that the first distributed manager is a backupfor the second distributed manager.
 26. The machine-readable medium ofclaim 25, wherein the indication comprises a directional arrow.
 27. Anapparatus for assigning client systems in a network, the apparatuscomprising: a display device; and a control logic, coupled to thedisplay device, including manager control logic operable to, (i.)display as icons at least a subset of distributed managers in thenetwork and at least a subset of client systems in the network; and(ii.) assign at least one of the client systems to at least one of thedistributed managers by associating an icon corresponding to the atleast one client system with an icon corresponding to the at least onedistributed manager.
 28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein theassociating of the icon corresponding to the at least one client systemto the icon corresponding to the at least one distributed managercomprises dragging and dropping the icon corresponding to the at leastone client system on the icon corresponding to the at least onedistributed manager.
 29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the iconsare displayed on the display device utilizing a graphical userinterface.
 30. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the assigning of theat least one client system to the at least one distributed managercomprises the manager control logic sending messages to the at least onedistributed manager and the at least one client system to notify the atleast one distributed manager and the at least one client system of theassignment.
 31. The apparatus of claim 30, therein the messages sent bythe manager control logic to affect the assignment include a message tothe at least one client system instructing the at least one clientsystem to communicate status information to the at least one distributedmanager.
 32. The apparatus of claim 30, wherein the messages sent by themanager control logic to affect the assignment include a message to theat least one distributed manager instructing the at least onedistributed manager that the at least one distributed manager hasmanagement responsibility for the at least one client system.
 33. Theapparatus of claim 27, wherein assigning at least one of the clientsystems to at least one of the distributed managers comprises: selectingthe icon corresponding to the at least one client system to cause themanager control logic to display a menu listing of all the distributedmanagers to which the client system can be assigned, and selecting oneof the distributed managers from the menu listing to cause the managercontrol logic to assign the at least one client system to the selecteddistributed manager.
 34. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein managercontrol logic displays the interrelationships of the distributedmanagers and the client systems utilizing a tree structure.
 35. Theapparatus of claim 27, wherein the subset of distributed managersincludes each distributed manager within the network.
 36. The apparatusof claim 27, wherein the manager control logic identifies distributedmanagers of the subset of distributed managers that are overburdened,and displays, via a graphical user interface, the subset of distributedmanagers in a manner that distinguishes the overburdened distributedmanagers from the non-overburdened distributed managers.
 37. Theapparatus of claim 36, wherein the manager control logic is to identifythe distributed managers that are overburdened by, identifying a numberof client systems that are managed by each distributed manager of thesubset of distributed managers, calculating an average number of clientsystems that are managed for the subset of distributed managers, anddetermining a distributed manager of the subset of distributed managersis overburdened if the distributed manager manages a number of clientsystems that exceeds the average number of client systems by a thresholdamount.
 38. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein the manager control logicis also to, obtaining redundancy information by identifying a firstdistributed manager of the subset of distributed managers that is abackup for a second distributed manager of the subset of distributedmanagers, and displaying, via a graphical user interface, an indicationthat the first distributed manager is a backup for the seconddistributed manager.
 39. The apparatus of claim 38, wherein theindication comprises a directional arrow.